The Real Gift from Blogging

See these two good looking broads? You probably know them as PDiddly (P's Thrifty Sewing Blog) and Art Attack via their blogs and Pattern Review, but guess what? PDiddly lives in the UK and Art Attack is a Texas girl and yet here they are together. That is the gift of blogging!

 

Pauline's work occasionally brings her to Houston and we met last year and just clicked. (Go figure...) Tonight we had a wonderful Italian dinner and talked sewing non-stop. At one point, she was pulling down her sweater to show me the gorgeous detail on the bra she recently made. We probably raised some eyebrows but neither of us noticed as there was too much fun stuff to cram into too little time together.

 

What I wouldn't give to live closer so that I could help Pauline with her upcoming wedding trousseau!

 

We all enjoy ideas, inspiration and motivation from each other's blogs but...if you ever have the opportunity to actually meet one of your blogging buddies...do whatever you can to make it happen. It is the true gift that blogging has to offer.

 

 

 

 

Valentine Blog

 

I think that celebrating Valentine's Day is an American thing...i.e...a "Hallmark moment".

 

But...I want to steal the limelight from the 'special occassion specialist' and take a moment to wish my blogging friends all around the world a happy day of love.

 

After all...that is the true spirit of Valentine's Day. Not candy...not flowers...not cards...not sexy nighties...not anything or everything red...just LOVE.

 

And... with my blogging friends, it happens to be sharing a love of SEWING. Dull? Boring? Old fashioned? A thing of the past or of days gone by? Oh, let's feel sorry for those that have that mindset!

 

In any event, this Valentine is not for them, it is for YOU. This is the day for saying... I Love You...and I do.

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

A Double-layer, Raw Edged Neckband Tutorial

In my continuing 2013 quest to add new techniques to my sewing repertoire, I happened upon a really cool raw edged neckline finish while making Vogue 1315. Since this dress might not be the right cup of tea for everyone, I thought I would pass on the neckband technique which can be used on any knit garment. I just finished using it on View D of New Look 6150 resulting in the cute tee above. And yes, it's Rodeo season in Houston hence the belt and boots. (and pearls...only in Texas!)

 

This technique is easy and fun. Start out by cutting two strips of fabric the length of the neckband that comes with your pattern. Cut the strips on the straight grain if your fabric has a crosswise stretch. You want the stretch. If there is no neckband piece with your pattern you can cut the strips approximately 4" shorter than the circumference of the neckline, measured after the shoulders are sewn. One strip should be 1-3/8" wide and the other 1-5/8" as shown below:

 

Next, sew the ends of the narrow strip, right sides together. Then sew the ends of the wider strip together wrong sides together. You will end up with:

 

Next, with right sides up, pin the narrower band over the wider band, matching seams and having raw edges even on one side. Baste near the even edge. Here is a pic of that (lifted and pinned section) on Maggie:

 

Now, with right sides together, pin the band to the neck edge, stretching slightly as you go, then stitch:

Trim this seam allowance to about 3/8":

Turn seam allowances toward garment and give it a good press from the outside:

Edgestitch and topstitch, or use a double stretch needle, which I think is easier and gives a better result.

To curl the raw edge of each band pull edges slightly and....Voila! The double-layer, raw edged neckband:

I will use this technique once in a while for a different neckline finish on casual tees and dresses. It's easy...try it!

If you've not tried NL 6150 and would like to read about it, here is my complete Pattern Review.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheetah Frocks Rock!

I love this dress!

 

Vogue 1315 by Rebecca Taylor. Fun to make...easy to wear...lots of design detail setting it apart from the everyday, such as double layered, raw edged neckline:

 

Front pleats on skirt forming the other side of pockets, more easily shown here on the line drawing:

 

And such a cute detail on the garment itself:

 

 

Also cute unbelted:

 

And from the back:

 

 

In closing, I pay homage to CocosLoft who was my inspiration for this dress...so much so that I even used the same fabric! Thank you, Coco. Copy cat? No, I'm thinking copy cheetah.

 

Click here for my complete PatternReview.

 

Thanks for stopping by!